Shoeaholics Beware: You can get zapped at Zappos for 50K

A little sexist, absolutely! But genius just the same...

Here’s a marketing ploy that falls somewhere between a left-handed compliment, a Henny Youngman wannabe, and a crack that a country club gent would gloat about over a gin and tonic and a smoke, “It only cost me $50,000 to stop my wife from shopping at Zappos.com!” Bah-dum-dum.

Noting the company blog, it appears that “due to the tsunami of calls received in 2008 by the Zappos Customer Loyalty Team from spouses of loyal customers lamenting that the web site was causing relationship and financial strains,” the mega online shoe retailer, and now purveyer of almost everything else including a Terraillon Linear Vocal Scale to place alongside the kitchen sink, is coming to the tongue-in-cheek financial rescue of peeved spouses by providing a limited edition “Cease and Desist” T-shirt cum “service” for the stop-you-in-your-tracks price of $50,000. This bliss-buster guarantees that Zappos will “permanently disable a significant other’s Zappos.com account for life.”

Since they are such nice guys, the T-shirt will be personally hand-delivered to the offending shoeaholic by a member of the Zappos Customer Loyalty Team” to demonstrate “yet another illustration of Zappos’ commitment to providing the ultimate customer experience.” Okay, that’s better than the usual free shipping.

The offer does accommodate barring boyfriends from overspending with a lovely pink T-shirt, which washes out the perceived sexist innuendo, well sort of.

Yes, some people can easily spend an insane amount of money on their footwear habit or their luxury du jour, like the chic on the sneak paperbag toting babes, but in full exposure as both a woman who owns a helluva a lot of good shoes which she paid for herself and holds a degree in marketing, the humor in this offer–oops, campaign– is branding genius. Look, I’m talking about it. You’ll be talking about it. And we will all be clicking on to Zappos to see what 50K cannot buy. If there should be any “Ceast and Desist” buyers, please contact me, I’d love to interview you. Then, I’d like to hear that the 50K is donated to a befitting cause.

About Sharon Haver

Thanks for reading my post!

My pleasure is to help women feel confident in their style so that they can confidently pull their look together every day with ease!

Beyond the magazine and commercial photo shoots that I as styling, on or off a photography set, there was a need to make style more accessible to those who wanted that extra boost of self-esteem whenever they got dressed. I founded FocusOnStyle.com back in 1999 as an extension of my syndicated Focus on Style newspaper column in a next level way to share my insider fashion stylist tips so that you can learn what it takes to become the stylist in charge of your own style.

As resident fashion expert & style mentor- with just about 3 decades of professional experience in the glamour industry as a New York-based photography fashion stylist, syndicated columnist, contributing editor, lecturer, on-air television/radio fashion expert, spokesperson, entrepreneur and founder / editor in chief of FocusOnStyle.com - I know what the modern-thinking woman wants when it comes to easygoing style that suits her individual needs, spiced with just the right amount of flip and wit to make it personal.

Become a FocusOnStyle Insider- If this post resonates with you and you want to stay in Sharon's loop to receive free tips and announcements that she only shares with her Insiders, jump on the list and receive a FREE copy of "Passport to French Chic" as a gift for joining her.

Are you tired of piecing it all together and want to go further faster in developing your own personal confident style? Spend 8 weeks with me to bring to light a personal chic style that suits your personality, values, and body so you can stop feeling overwhelmed and underrated.

I created the C'est Chic Crash Course step by step style mentoring system because ‘fashion’ doesn’t work for most people.

My signature online program has all you need to know to learn how to confidently rule your own personal chic so you can have the extra boost of that certain something that comes when you feel self-assured to confidently go on with the rest of your day... in style!

Sign up for the introductory video series for FREE! No credit card required.